$100 Million Arizona Program Committed to High-Speed Broadband,  NTIA Awards First Broadband Grants to Tribal Groups 

$100 Million Arizona Program Committed to High-Speed Broadband 

Governor Doug Ducey announced a $100 million commitment to expand high-speed broadband to unserved and underserved areas of the state.  The Arizona Broadband Development Grant Program will enable local communities to construct or improve broadband infrastructure that connects Arizonans in their homes and serves schools, libraries, small businesses, public safety operations and more. Grants will be available for both rural and urban parts of the state, with eligible applicants to include broadband service providers, local governments, Native American tribes, schools, libraries and more. One of the single largest broadband investments in state history, funding comes from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.  “Today’s historic investment will build on the progress of recent years to get even more schools, businesses, tribal communities and homes connected, opening up more opportunities for services like telemedicine and digital learning,” Governor Ducey said. 

 

NTIA Awards First Broadband Grants to Tribal Groups 

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded the first three grants under the nearly $1 billion Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. These awards total almost $1.4 million and are being made to the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, the Upper Mattaponi Tribe in Virginia, and the Sokaogon Chippewa Community Wisconsin. Two of the grants will support the provision of broadband services, computers, and digital skills training to tribal members and one will fund a tribal broadband planning project. NTIA is still reviewing more than 280 remaining applications received during the application window, which closed on Sept. 1, 2021. Additional awards will be announced on a rolling basis as they go through NTIA’s review process. 

 

The Regulatory Mix will be on hiatus 11/22/21 through 11/26/21 for the Thanksgiving Holiday. We will resume publishing on 11/29/21.

 

The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.